Gul Dukat

Notes

One of the most enigmatic figures in the Alpha Quadrant, Gul Dukat first came to prominence during the Cardassian occupation of the Bajor system. Ambitious even by Cardassian standards, Dukat rose to become commander of the Terok Nor orbital refinery and prefect of Bajor itself. The Bajorans regarded Dukat as one of the most hated men alive, and many attempts were made on his life during this period. Dukat, by contrast, viewed himself rather differently.2He considered Cardassians to be a superior form of life to Bajorans, and thus thought that they had a natural right to rule Bajor. Given this, Dukat expected the Bajorans to accept and even welcome Cardassian rule and seemed genuinely puzzled when they did not.3Indeed, since he claimed that he made every effort to minimize civilian casualties during the occupation Dukat honestly seemed to expect the Bajorans to respond to him as a father figure, and occasionally protested that there were no monuments to him on the planet after the end of the occupation.4

After the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole Dukat openly favoured another Cardassian invasion of the system, eager to regain his old position. Although he retained his condescending attitude toward the Bajorans, he was able to deal with the Federation - and especially Commander Sisko - relatively successfully, presumably because he could more easily accept them as equals.2In 2371 The military government of Cardassia was overthrown by a popular uprising, and Dukat became the chief military advisor to the ruling Detapa council.5The following year he and Major Kira were successful in finding the remains of the Ravinok, missing since 2366 along with Dukat's daughter Tora Ziyal. Dukat planned to kill the child, who was half Bajoran, but found himself unable to do so when confronted with her. He instead returned to Cardassia with Ziyal, hoping to integrate her into his life.6Instead his family disowned him and the Detapa Council demoted him and placed him in command of an old freighter, a humiliating assignment for the ambitious Gul.7

Dukat served on the freighter for some months before he was able to capture a Klingon Bird of Prey with the assistance of Major Kira. Leaving Ziyal in Kira's care on Deep Space Nine, Dukat set about using his new ship to harass to Klingon forces which had invaded Cardassia some months earlier.7Towards the end of the year Dukat used his ship to assist Captain Sisko in infiltrating Klingon space to discover the identity of a Founder who was suspected of infiltrating the Klingon government.8Dukat was not satisfied with commanding a single ship, however, and in 2373 he began secret negotiations with the Dominion. They agreed to install him as ruler of Cardassia if he delivered it into Dominion hands, a deal which he soon fulfilled.9The Dominion fleet quickly repelled the Klingon invaders and then attempted to destroy the Bajoran system after luring Federation, Klingon and Romulan forces there. The attempt failed, but Dukat was determined to regain possession of the station.9

His next chance came when Starfleet ordered the wormhole entrance mined to prevent further Dominion ships coming through. Dukat led a fleet to the station to prevent the operation. Although he was able to capture the station, Captain Sisko was able to both activate the minefield and destroy fifty of the attacking ships before evacuating. While the Dominion was busy at Deep Space Nine a Federation-Klingon task force was also able to destroy some Dominion shipyards.10

Dukat's command of Dominion forces in the first few months of the war led to some heavy losses being inflicted on the Allied fleets, but eventually Sisko was able to convince Starfleet to launch an all out attack on Deep Space Nine and this succeeded in recapturing the station with the help of both a small band of resistance fighters on board the station and the Bajoran Prophets within the wormhole. Glinn Damar killed Dukat's daughter Ziyal for assisting the rebels in the recapture, an action which led to Dukat suffering a nervous breakdown. He was captured by Federation forces11, but along with Captain Sisko was marooned on an uninhabited planet when the ship taking him to stand trial was destroyed by Dominion forces. During their time on the planet Dukat told Sisko that one of the greatest regrets of his life was that he had not wiped out the Bajorans before the end of the occupation. Sisko came to realize that Dukat was both truly evil and completely insane, but was unable to prevent him from escaping after promising to destroy Bajor once and for all.4

To accomplish his plan Dukat became a willing servant of the pah-wraiths. He allowed one of the aliens to posses his body, and in this form he murdered Jadzia Dax whilst breaking into the Bajoran temple on Deep Space Nine. Dukat used the temples Orb to seal the wormhole, provoking a crisis of faith on Bajor.12Fortunately, Sisko was able to use the Orb of the Emissary to reopen the wormhole some months later.13

Dukat continued his attempts to serve the pah-wraiths, and in 2375 he disguised himself as a Bajoran and managed to worm his way into the affections of Kai Winn.14He convinced Winn that the pah-wraiths were the true gods of Bajor, and together they attempted to free them from the fire caves of Bajor. Dukat was confronted by Captain Sisko in the caves, and although he succeeded in releasing a pah-wraith the Emissary was able to defeat Dukat and imprison him forever along with his masters.15